‘Taj Mahal’ to release today
Noreen Aslam

BOMBAY—Actor-turned-filmmaker Akbar Khan who is known for his interest in things periodic, will release his costliest and multi starrer ‘Taj Mahal’ Friday (November 18th). After making mega serials like ‘The Sword of Tipu Sultan’ and ‘Akbar The Great’, he ventured into making his mega ‘Taj Mahal’. The movie has many special features; being the costliest one estimated at Rs 500 million it faced financial hardships several times though denied by Akbar Khan. Yes, the movie is being financed by Punjab National Bank, yet it anxiously looked for distributors to book it in advance. However, no distributor dared distribute it as it involved heavy risk. So, the filmmaker in his wisdom decided to undertake the distribution responsibility on its shoulders too. Again, all this is denied by Akbar Khan. He says, “All this is rubbish. We have decided to shoulder this responsibility from a business point of view. Moreover, no one could easily afford such a huge distribution cost.”
Believe it or not, but Akbar Khan claims that he will release ‘Taj Mahal’ simultaneously in Hollywood too. He is, therefore, getting it dubbed not only in English but in Arabian and Persian languages also.
Justifying the deployment of a large army of artistes in the movie, Akbar Khan says that being a historical movie it was essential for him to do so. Among the prominent actors in the movie are Kabir Bedi, Arbaaz Khan, Manisha Koirala, Pooja Batra and Kim Sharma. Besides, the list includes a new actress named Sonia opposite a model- turned - actor Zulfikaar Khan. In fact, Akbar Khan was looking for faces not known in the industry. That’s why he chose two new faces-Zulfikaar alias Syed Zulfi and Sonia. The latter is the grand daughter of Bollywood’s most famous singer-actor Noorjahan.
In fact, Khan was determined to choose new faces to play the characters of Shahjehan and Mumtaz Mahal. This is significant that Akbar Khan ventured into a period epic movie at a time when the industry is flooded with ones based on sex, romance, nudity and imitation. Contrary to it, ‘Taj Mahal’ is full of drama, romance, action, songs and dances. Naushad Ali’s music is another feather in the filmmaker’s cap. Hopefully, Akbar Khan will not let this historical movie turn into a village stage show.
For safeguarding it from this, he has tried to enact scenes of Deewan-e-Aam, Rangmahal and Meena Bazaar which are vital components of this Mughal period film. He has made twenty-two sets to make it look like a period film. Sources close to Khan say that the filmmaker has left no stone unturned in creating the famous Sumergarh war scenario. In this connection, he arranged a war scene involving some three thousand artistes in the hottest season in Jaipur. He deployed a large army of 16,000 artistes to enact the war scene. Would one believe that he has consumed 1.5 lakh meters of cotton and silken cloth in it! Since the movie revolves around the eternal love story behind one of the Seven Wonders of the World, it will provide a special treat for the lovers of Mughal art, design, costumes and jewellery.
Tejas Jogani who designed and made jewellery for big Hindi movies like ‘Chandni’, ‘Lamhe’ and ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ is annoyed with Akbar Khan. He claims that the book “The Making Of Taj Mahal” has carried no mention of his contribution to the Khan’s film in the credits section. He adds, “I rang up Akbar Khan. He told me it’s too late to rectify the error. But he promised me full projection in his next project ‘Changez Khan’. I declined the offer.” Besides, the jewellery designer regrets Khan’s treatment towards him and wonders if he would ever get his dues.